FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q: Under ERC 2018 PoC, which type of feedback will I receive for my proposal during and after evaluation for the ERC Proof of Concept (PoC) call?

A:

ERC PoC 2018 proposals are evaluated on a 'Pass/Fail' basis on each of the evaluation criteria. The applicant receives the feedback on the outcome of the peer review evaluation in the form of an evaluation report. This indicates whether the proposal is retained for funding and provides the passed/failed status for each of the evaluation criteria, with corresponding comments given by the panel.
More information on the evaluation procedure can be found in the ERC Work Programme 2018, in the section relevant to the call.

Q: Under call ERC 2018 PoC, should the applicant provide the names and the Curriculum Vitae (CV) of the team members in the proposal?

A:

For the PoC 2018 Call, although it is not mandatory to provide the names of individual team members or their CVs, the PoC plan needs to include justification that the persons working on the tasks are well qualified for the purpose. The description of the team needs to be filled in the Part B – section3.
More information on the submission and evaluation procedures can be found in the ERC Work Programme 2018, in the section relevant to the call.

For the Proof of Concept 2018 Call, applicants submit the whole proposal that is evaluated in a single step by the peer reviewers.
For more information on the evaluation process, please refer to the ERC Work Programme 2018.

Q: Under ERC-2018 PoC call, can an applicant submit a proposal to the ERC Proof of Concept (PoC) call and also to one of the four main ERC Frontier Research calls (Starting, Consolidator, Advanced or Synergy)?

A:

Yes, an applicant can submit to the ERC PoC 2018 call and at the same time to one of the four main ERC frontier research calls (since the restrictions stated in the ERC Work Programme 2018 do not apply to PoC Grants).

Q: Under the ERC 2018 PoC call, are there any share or quota limitations per domain or discipline?

A:

There are no shares or quotas by domain or discipline for the ERC PoC 2018 call. No domain or field is excluded (*) and the possibility for innovation arising from the social sciences and humanities to apply for a PoC funding is fully recognised.
(*) As stated in the ERC Work Programme 2018: “Research proposals within the scope of Annex I to the Euratom Treaty, namely those directed towards nuclear energy applications, shall be submitted to relevant calls under the Euratom Framework Programme.”

Q: Under the ERC 2018 PoC call, if a proposal was not funded in the first deadline (cut-off-date), can it be resubmitted for the second or third deadline of the same call?

A:

No, as stated in the ERC Work Programme 2018, a Principal Investigator may submit only one application per call to the ERC Proof of Concept 2018 call.Important note: More than one Proof of Concept Grant (PoC) may be awarded per ERC funded frontier research project, but only one Proof of Concept project may be running at any one time for the same ERC frontier research project.

Q: In some countries, 'habilitation' is a scientific degree awarded to formally acknowledge the achievement of research independence. Are holders of this degree eligible to apply to the ERC Consolidator Grant 2017?

A:

According to the conditions of the ERC Consolidator Grant 2017 call, there is no eligibility restriction to holders of a 'habilitation'. The reference date used for calculation of the applicant's eligibility is the PhD award date or medical doctor degree award date.
For more information please consult the ERC policy on PhD and equivalent doctoral degrees in the ERC Work Programme 2017, Annex 2.

Q: ERC- 2017 PoC: Can an applicant submit to the ERC Proof of Concept call and also submit a proposal to one of the 3 main ERC Frontier Research calls (StG, CoG or AdG)?

A:

Yes, an applicant can submit to the ERC Proof of Concept 2017 call and at the same time to one of the 3 main ERC frontier research calls (since the restrictions stated in the ERC Work Programme 2017 do not apply to Proof of Concept grants).

Q: For a ERC 2017 Proof of Concept (PoC) grant, is it preferable to have a project of 12 or of 18 months?

A:

Where an ERC PoC proposal has initially indicated a duration of 12 months, during grant preparation Principal Investigators (PIs) are usually advised to go for a longer timespan (18 months) just in order to cope with eventual delays and always finish the ERC PoC project in an acceptable period of time, although the final decision will be with the PI. The reason is that under H2020, extensions of duration to PoC projects are typically not granted once the project has started. It should also be noted that in case a PI opts for the 18 months duration, but the project’s activities are finished within 12 months (or any other month before the 18th), the costs cannot be claimed for reimbursement immediately, but the PI will have to wait until the contractual end of the Grant in order to submit the Final Reports and cost claims (Article 20 of the GA).
More information can be found in the H2020 Model Grant Agreements for ERC Proof of Concept grants:
ERC POC mono-beneficiary MGA
ERC POC multi-beneficiary MGA

Q: For a European Research Council (ERC) 2017 Proof of Concept (PoC) grant, are timesheets needed for the Principal Investigator?

A:

Yes, the time sheets are needed if the PI charges salary to the ERC PoC action. All team members for which personnel costs are being charged should maintain timesheets of the hours worked on the project. See also Article 18.1 of the Annotated Model Grant Agreement.